Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork

Chapter 3: The politics of wasteand Science and Technology. Environmental affairs must pick up the waste but remains,as it was under apartheid, a junior portfolio.Within the state system, the DEAT first had to fight for recognition of its authorityto draft a Waste Bill. This relates to the Constitutional requirement for cooperativegovernance and the allocation of responsibilities to different spheres of government.Once it had established its authority, the Bill provided the ground for a series ofrunning battles, including turf wars between departments and contestation over thecontents of the Bill by business and civil society.These disputes make their marks on the Bill but only to set the scene for futurestruggles. This is because the Waste Bill, like the Air Quality Act before it, is ‘framework’legislation. A key function of the Bill is to establish the authority – given to theminister and provincial MECs – to make regulations governing various aspects ofmanagement. Regulations are not merely the technical means of implementing policybut constitute the detail of policy. The formulation of each set of regulations will thusbecome a ground of struggle, some involving very specific interests. Legal consultantJenny Hall comments, “Deferral is the curse of framework legislation.” First, the mostintense battles are still to come. Second, implementation must wait on the making ofregulations. Thus, two years on, the AQA is not being implemented except throughthe declaration of ‘priority areas’ – that is, pollution hotspots.Some of these battles will take place on the terrain of waste in general. Thus, theminister must establish a national waste management strategy within two years of theBill’s enactment. While the NWMS has been around for years, it is most likely that itwill be picked over by interested parties including other departments and spheres ofgovernment who will be bound by it once it is legally established.Many battles, however, will be case-by-case and liable to disappear into behind-doorsnegotiations between DEAT, specific industries and corporations, and officials fromDTI and Finance. For example, the minister may declare a particular waste to be apriority waste if it “poses a threat to health, well-being or the environment” [S.14]and must then make regulations for managing that waste or prohibiting it. This is apotentially important provision. However, if the waste arises from an activity with anyeconomic significance, the minister must consult the ministers of trade and industryand finance before making the declaration. The environmental significance will then beput up against the economic significance which, given the concentration of ownershipWasting the Nation - groundWork - 71 -